The present invention relates generally to the field of recreation parks and more particularly to a park having winter recreational structures for safe entertainment and amusement of children, teenagers as well as adults.
Commercial play structures such as theme parks have recently become popular, which are designed to meet the recreational needs of families and adults. Conventional commercial structures are often adapted to certain themes such as water activities, old western settings, fantasylands, etc.
A typical play structure may include several play areas of different types of play and often interconnected with slides, tunnels, bridges and walking paths or the like.
Conventional play structures are often designed for outdoor use and are found in recreational parks or theme parks. For this reason, such parks are located in more temperate southerly regions where the winters are mild and snow and ice does not frequently occur even in the wintertime. In such moderate climates on the other hand many of the inhabitants have never seen snow and have never experienced winter sporting activities, such as skiing, sledding or ice skating. In such regions, even in desert areas of the south western United States or in Middle Eastern or Asian countries, a desire exists to engage in recreational activities related to winter, whereas this is largely prevented by the lack of cold winter weather.
The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a winter recreational park with interactive winter facilities adapted to activities in snow and ice, where the park can be located in very moderate, arid or even desert climates.
A very large-scale commercial water park, which incorporates interactive water play structures, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,048. Participants including both children and adults have discovered the entertainment and educational benefits of such parks, apart from the pure amusement.